Note: This is a new thing – starting off with a note – but I like it. Especially, since I’m so far behind on writing the blog, I feel like I need to describe what I’m experiencing/feeling/seeing while reflecting on past events.
So, to start off this blog, I have to say that while writing the first half of the blog, I was at the most wonderful place on earth: Palo Duro Canyon, TX. I don’t want to spoil anything for when I write the blog for this place, but I was close to tears. It was absolutely stunning and beautiful and breathtaking and so impressively vast. (How will I react when we reach the Grand Canyon?) Keeping this in mind, the blog could go either way. Being this content may make me write about New Orleans in a more positive way or the beauty of the spacious surrounding me at this moment may dwarf my experiences from New Orleans. Continue reading and find out.
I wrote the second half of the blog after my first day at the Grand Canyon. It doesn’t look good for NOLA.
2019-03-23 Pensacola, FL to New Orleans, LA + French Quarter
As per usual, the Greyhound was delayed and it was already 7 pm when I arrived in New Orleans. My host, Thomas, had to be somewhere for work that evening and sadly, he couldn’t be there when I got to his place. But he had arranged things so I could get into his loft anyways and even offered me his bike with a lock and a helmet to use to explore the city on my own.
When I went into his loft (which is located in a building block that advertises with “art lofts”, so I really should have expected it), I amazed by all the art and art supplies that cluttered the front part of the loft. I was super envious because I had always dreamed of owning such a place when I was younger.
After I had gotten settled in and freshened up, I took the bike and rode to the French Quarter. I walked around for a bit and stumbled across a tiny market in a backyard where artists sold their works. One of the booths really caught my attention; it was a display for these amazing photographs someone had taken around town. I really liked the vibrant colors and spent a long time just looking through the seemingly endless number of gorgeous photos. I talked with the photographer herself for a bit and ended up buying 4 prints (for the price of 3 because I couldn’t decide between 2 of the ones I had chosen and she told me to just take them both). Now I’ll have to pay to ship them back to Germany, but it was worth it.
I took some pictures myself when I walked around the French Quarter, but I’m not sure they are even good enough to put on my blog. (I haven’t looked through them yet. I know it’s been 1.5 weeks. Don’t judge.)
At around 11 pm, I went to the hostel I would be staying at from Monday to Friday to meet with Björn. Björn is also backpacking through the USA and messaged me a few days prior through couchsurfing, if I wanted to hang out and explore New Orleans together. We found out that we both wanted to go on a road trip to the west coast together and decided that we’d go on the trip together if we got along in person. We had a couple of beers at the hostel with some of the other patrons and I had a great time. It was already 2:15 am by the time I decided to head back to the art loft.
Thomas got back from his thing around the same time as me and we got to talk for a few minutes before we both went to bed, completely exhausted.
2019-03-24 French Quarter, New Orleans, LA + Actions Speak Louder Than Words
I slept in – it was Sunday after all – and when Thomas got up, we had a short conversation. (I don’t remember what we talked about, but I do remember wishing we had more time to talk.) He went out to attend a yoga class and invited me to come along. I would have loved to, but I didn’t feel too well and thought it would be better if I didn’t try to do any sports.
Thomas had told be about Crescent Park that is just a few blocks from his place and right next to the Mississippi, so I walked there after I had breakfast. In enjoyed watching the ships go by, taking photos of the beautiful flowers that grew in the park, and watching people for a while when I had gotten to the other end of the park.
I walked to the French Quarter to see it by day and took some more pictures. While there, I realized that I had completely lost my voice. I continued walking around regardless, but not too much later I felt really exhausted and decided it was time to head back to the loft. I texted Thomas to warn him that I couldn’t speak before I made my way through the artsy neighborhood of Bywater to get to his place.
Thomas was so incredibly nice and took amazing care of me. When I tried to whisper, he told me not to speak at all and only to answer his questions with a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. He made me tea, gave me vitamins and meds, and then told me to lay down and get some rest. I lied down, watched some TV and snoozed for the rest of the day before going to bed for good and spending a restless night on a very comfortable couch.
2019-03-25 The Atlas House, New Orleans, LA + Still Mute
When I woke up in the morning, I still had no voice whatsoever. I packed up all of my things since I’d be changing locations again and then chilled for a while before Thomas got up. Since I couldn’t talk, we didn’t communicate much, but he told me I was welcome to stay a bit longer, even though he had to leave. We said our goodbyes and I took a few more minutes to figure out how to best get to the hostel I would be staying at until Friday.
I took the bus for half the way and then walked the rest. I had warned Björn that I had lost my voice and he was waiting for me when I arrived at the hostel to help with checking in. I had prepared a message on my phone (“Hi! I lost my voice but I can hear just fine. Please ask yes/no questions or give me time to type out a response on my phone. Thank you.”) and the owner of the hostel was super sweet and seemed to have no problems with me not being able to talk. She showed me around and then I got settled into my bed. I had a bottom bunk in a 6-bed dorm, which was actually a hallway to the other 6-bed dorm and the bathroom. Despite seeming less than ideal at first glance, I really liked the space that was available to me and it was surprisingly quiet. I relaxed for a while before I sat down outside in the backyard between the front building and the back building, in which my dorm was. I had intended to do things on my computer, but then other people sat down as well and we started talking. Or, well, they started talking and I started listening and occasionally typing out responses on my laptop. Two of the people that were part of the conversation were MJ and Nino. MJ is from Kansas City and Nino from England. They were traveling together for a few days (I think) and a lot of fun to be around. Later in the evening (after free tacos for dinner), MJ and I really got to talking (or writing in my case) and I had an absolute blast.
I took the bus for half the way and then walked the rest. I had warned Björn that I had lost my voice and he was waiting for me when I arrived at the hostel to help with checking in. I had prepared a message on my phone (“Hi! I lost my voice but I can hear just fine. Please ask yes/no questions or give me time to type out a response on my phone. Thank you.”) and the owner of the hostel was super sweet and seemed to have no problems with me not being able to talk. She showed me around and then I got settled into my bed. I had a bottom bunk in a 6-bed dorm, which was actually a hallway to the other 6-bed dorm and the bathroom. Despite seeming less than ideal at first glance, I really liked the space that was available to me and it was surprisingly quiet. I relaxed for a while before I sat down outside in the backyard between the front building and the back building, in which my dorm was. I had intended to do things on my computer, but then other people sat down as well and we started talking. Or, well, they started talking and I started listening and occasionally typing out responses on my laptop. Two of the people that were part of the conversation were MJ and Nino. MJ is from Kansas City and Nino from England. They were traveling together for a few days (I think) and a lot of fun to be around. Later in the evening (after free tacos for dinner), MJ and I really got to talking (or writing in my case) and I had an absolute blast.
When I finally went to bed, I was super happy and didn’t feel too bad anymore about not having a voice.
2019-03-26 New Orleans, LA + No, This Is Not My Normal Voice
When I woke up, the first thing I did was try out my voice, but I still couldn’t get out any sounds whatsoever. Despite (almost) everyone handling me not being able to speak so well, I was starting to get frustrated. It is an interesting experience to be constantly surrounded by people and conversations and not being able to speak, but a couple of hours would have been long for me to conduct this social experiment. I had pancakes for breakfast and then later, Björn and I went to a nearby park where we sat in the sun for a couple of hours, him reading, me writing. I partially got my voice back before we went to the park and I was so happy to be able to speak again after a good 48 hours of being mute.
The rest of the day was just as relaxed as the trip to the park. I remember going to Walmart (which was finally a really big one and I was impressed, I have to say), buying a lot of vegetables and cooking them for dinner, and just doing a whole bunch of nothing, talking with MJ (and telling her that, no, my voice is not usually this raspy) and watching a lot of TV, before going to bed early.
2019-03-27 Frenchmen Street, New Orleans, LA
After a very relaxed morning, Björn and I booked the car for our 2-week road-trip. We got lucky that his card was declined and I had to book it in my name, because we found a really cheap van instead of getting a sedan as we had originally planned when I typed in my info.
I also found the time to edit some photos I had taken in Atlanta and to upload them to my website.
I also found the time to edit some photos I had taken in Atlanta and to upload them to my website.
In the evening, Shelby (the owner of the hostel), Björn, Hugo, Jan and I went to see a free concert a few blocks down the road. We had a few beers before and I was surprised we were allowed to take them with us without having to conceal them. Apparently, NOLA has different laws than most of the USA. The concert was fun but didn’t last too long. Shelby had to go back to the hostel, but the rest of us decided to go to Frenchmen Street together to listen to some jazz.
At first, we went into a bar, but we didn’t like the band to much, so we decided to go looking for another place. When we went out on the street, we heard a band playing on a corner and went there. The music and the atmosphere were amazing and we stayed there until the band stopped playing.
The walk back to the hostel was long but a lot of fun and I fell asleep with a smile on my face that night.
2019-03-28 New Orleans, LA
On the last (whole) day in NOLA, Björn and I went to check out some of the cemeteries. On one of them, we met Jan and Hugo and continued our exploration as a group. We walked to the City Park together, where we then went to the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. I had a lot of fun hanging out with these people for a couple of days!
When we took the street car back to the city, Björn and I went to the French Quarter while the others went back to the hostel. We wanted to explore the famous quarter during the day time and also go to the Café du Monde to try the beignets. They were absolutely delicious but the wait time was insane. (Worth it, though.)
In the evening, Björn and I planned the rough outline of our road trip. The first draft said it would be 2,800 miles and take 42 hours to drive. I won’t be able to say exactly for how long we drove in the end, but I’m curious how many miles we’ll have driven.
2019-03-29 New Orleans, LA
I packed up all of my things in the morning, took a shower, had breakfast and got ready for a 2-week long road-trip. Björn and I got an uber to the airport, where we picked up our car and we were absolutely delighted to find out that our car was a new Dodge Grand Caravan with only 10,000 miles on it. The five seats in the back are completely collapsible, which means that we would be able to sleep in the car during our trip and wouldn’t have to worry about finding hostels/motels/hotels. We were really excited to go in this trip and started the first and (probably) longest drive of our journey by driving almost all the way to Austin, TX.
End note: I swear, I’m trying to keep these blogs short, but they just always turn out way longer than I intend.